Teacher Thoughts On Virtual Learning

By Abigail Bailey

PSA Student News

Mrs. Brown has a solemn look on her face as she recounts her time teaching virtually during the 2020-2021 school year.

“The pandemic has been hard on everyone.”

Mrs. Brown is a science teacher at Palmetto Scholars Academy, specializing in Chemistry and Forensic Science. She’s also the head of the Science Department, which puts her in a difficult position with a global pandemic raging beyond her classroom doors.

“Science is very hands-on. We do lots of labs in Chemistry and Forensics, and in the virtual world, we miss out on that. I mean, we did virtual labs, but it’s not quite the same. Most students learn better when they can actually touch things, feel things, and see things rather than just looking at them online.”

She’s one of many teachers at PSA who prefer teaching in-person rather than a hybrid or online system. Mrs. Sullivan, who teaches History and Gov/Econ, also says that she would much rather be in a classroom than a home office.

“Mostly, [I prefer] in-person learning. I kind of get my energy from the students, I think that it’s a lot of fun.”

But with COVID-19 still ravaging the world and the PSA community, Mrs. Sullivan believes that going virtual “was definitely the best choice for safety.” Now that school is back in session, being in-person comes with a price. COVID hasn’t gone away, and neither have the restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of it. In Mrs. Sullivan's classes, she’s more intentional about grouping students together in repetitive clusters, instead of randomly assigning them. This action was made to reduce the number of close contacts in her classroom.

Safety isn’t the only concern that’s been shot into the spotlight during the coronavirus pandemic. Some subjects have also seen significant grade average fluctuations, and as both teachers report, they’ve seen drastic changes to their classrooms since COVID came to town.

“I’ve seen it in Chemistry and Forensics, because the pandemic has been hard on everyone.” Mrs. Brown reports. “Students and teachers, extremely hard on students learning virtually compared to learning in the classroom.”

“I don’t know that there’s a major grade fluctuation,” Mrs. Sullivan counters. “I think teachers have felt the need to be kind of a little bit more accommodating as students are transitioning back, so I find that I am less strict about my late work policy, for example, as students are kind of learning how to be regular students again. So that has shifted grades a little bit, but that would be the only real thing.”

Regardless of how, both teachers agree that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed their classroom dynamics and revolutionized how they teach.

Despite the disparate conditions that the pandemic has brought to the world and the PSA community, there were also some positive outcomes of virtual learning. Mrs. Sullivan says that some aspects of her social studies classes were actually easier online than in person. She uses the example of reading a book for Econ. class: “It’s easier for the students, when we were online, for me to say, ‘okay, go read at your own pace, you don’t need to stay on Zoom’, and for students to be able to go read somewhere quietly. So that was kind of a benefit of going virtual,”. She also says that she implemented a new function to her classroom: online discussions. This has reportedly helped students who wouldn’t normally participate find their voice during class debates and discussions. This just goes to show that despite the brutal conditions teachers and students alike have faced because of the pandemic, there can always be a silver lining.

Through all of the trials and tribulations of school in the age of COVID, the Palmetto Scholars Academy community has faced it all and remained strong. Though there’s been highs and lows and different groups are seeing effects disproportionately, the teachers at PSA are committed to working towards a safe and effective environment for everyone. With COVID still reigning over the community, all that PSA can do is remember one thing:

It’s a great day to be a Phoenix.